saying hello to june and olive oil ice cream

Oh, my. It’s June already. Wasn’t it just January?

I’m sitting here in a mostly quiet house, waiting for my family to get home from swimming lessons. It’s not completely quiet, you see, because we have a new addition to the family. Our little 4-month old, a fluffy grey Maine Coon kitten named Maggie, is darting back and forth under my feet as I sit at this desk, chasing a little ball and chirping at me, trying to get my attention. And she’s definitely getting attention. While she will never replace our Fritz, I’ve already fallen in love with the crazy little thing. We’ve all fallen in love with her.

I’m looking forward to this month. I’m headed to Chicago this weekend, a trip I look forward to each year – not only because I get to sleep in a hotel room all to myself, but because I get to hug my sister for the first time in months. We’ll celebrate Father’s Day towards the middle of the month. We’re making a quick weekend trip to Disney, and we’re staying at one of the hotels that I’ve had my eye on for a while. My mother and her twin sister celebrate their birthday at the end of the month, on the same day that Sam and I will have been married for 14 years.

And one last little thing to start June off right – the new website design.  I was in the mood for some serious spring cleaning around here, and the talented Lindsay of Purr Design and the blog, Love & Olive Oil, is behind this beautiful makeover. We’ve been working together for the last couple of weeks, and I’ve been lucky enough to meet her in person twice over the past two months. Not only is she incredibly creative but she is completely adorable and sweet as sugar.

And this month of June? It’s going to be a good month.

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olive oil ice cream | the merry gourmet

Speaking of olive oil, I made this olive oil ice cream over the weekend. If you’ve never had olive oil ice cream, you are missing out on quite a treat. I first had olive oil ice cream in Seattle last August when I was there for the IFBC. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I did, but over the past several months, especially as the temperatures have climbed into the 80s and 90s, I have not been able to get it out of my mind. A quick internet search revealed that the easiest way to satisfy this craving was through David Lebovitz‘s recipe, found in his book, The Perfect Scoop.

The recipe requires a great olive oil – one with real fruitiness. If you use a cheap, bland olive oil, you’ll be really disappointed in the result. I had a free sample of Roland olive oil (sent to me by Roland Foods) that worked beautifully, resulting in a well-balanced, perfectly creamy and lightly sweetened ice cream.

Do yourself a favor. Make this ice cream.

olive oil ice cream | the merry gourmet

olive oil ice cream

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
1 cup heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup good olive oil

Directions:

You can find the full recipe with directions here and you should really buy David Lebovitz's book.

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30 Responses to “saying hello to june and olive oil ice cream”

  1. 1
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    I’ll definitely give your recipe a whirl once our weather warms up a bit and I can source some terrific EVOO to do it justice.

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    Liren — June 1, 2011 @ 9:31 pm

    I love it. I love the new design, the updated logo, the promise of a wonderful June, little Maggie, and of course, the olive oil ice cream. Here’s to a fresh and delicious start to June!

  3. 3
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    Ethan — June 1, 2011 @ 9:40 pm

    Love the new look MJ! Perfect Spring cleaning project!

  4. 4
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    Maria Raynal — June 1, 2011 @ 10:10 pm

    The new site is lovely, and you KNOW I like the ice cream! Welcome to Maggie, too!

    • 4.1
      Merry-Jennifer
      Merry-Jennifer — June 1, 2011 @ 10:11 pm

      I still remember us trying to get seconds of that ice cream…

  5. 5
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    Kulsum at JourneyKitchen — June 2, 2011 @ 2:30 am

    I never had OLIVE oil icecream and yes I’m missing out n quiet a treat I guess! Love the new layout

  6. 6
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    Mardi@eatlivetravelwrite — June 2, 2011 @ 8:52 am

    MJ – love the new look and this recipe is on my list – love DL’s book and my ice cream maker 🙂

  7. 7
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    Lori @ RecipeGirl — June 2, 2011 @ 9:14 am

    Love Lindsay… she did my recent design too. She rocks, and she’s so easy to work with!

    Olive Oil ice cream sounds like a great idea!

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    Paula - bell'alimento — June 2, 2011 @ 9:29 am

    Swoon Olive Oil Ice Cream & a beauty-full new look! xoxo

  9. 9
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    Jennifer Hess — June 2, 2011 @ 10:12 am

    So glad you’ve got so many wonderful things to look forward to, and a new kitten to bring you happiness! And I love the redesign. xo

  10. 10
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    Helene — June 2, 2011 @ 10:18 am

    That ice cream just went on the Sunday dinner with friends menu! Thanks!
    Love the redesign!

  11. 11
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    Your site looks absolutely stunning! I love it!

    AND, I just love that olive oil ice cream. I think that is absolutely something that I can handle right now (with the help of hubs, of course). I will be making it ASAP! 🙂

  12. 12
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    Adryon — June 2, 2011 @ 10:35 am

    Love the redesign! And the ice cream looks lovely and creamy. Yummy!

  13. 13
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    Patricia Scarpin — June 2, 2011 @ 10:55 am

    Looks so good! I’m intrigued by this recipe and will give this a try (despite being cold here in Sao Paulo right now, I don’t care, I love having ice cream in cold days as much as in hot ones. ). 😀

  14. 14
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    Kiran @ KiranTarun.com — June 2, 2011 @ 11:21 am

    Love your new site, it’s beautiful 🙂 And thanks for sharing this recipe. I recalled we were exchanging tweets about olive oil ice cream. Now I can’t wait to make it 🙂

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    marla — June 2, 2011 @ 12:04 pm

    I cannot believe it is June either….yikes. This ice cream is gorgeous – I love olive oil in baked goodies & I can only imagine it in this ice cream. I hope you have a wonderful time in Chicago – sounds like a wonderful trip you have planned 🙂

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    marla — June 2, 2011 @ 12:04 pm

    Oh & fabulous re-design 🙂

  17. 17
    Merry-Jennifer
    Merry-Jennifer — June 2, 2011 @ 7:31 pm

    Thanks, everyone!

  18. 18
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    Wenderly — June 2, 2011 @ 7:45 pm

    Love your new look! It’s just lovely!

    And that olive oil ice cream…*divine* we live for olive oil at my house! This will be a heavenly hit for sure!

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  20. 19
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    Gail — June 3, 2011 @ 8:33 am

    The olive oil ice cream is the perfect compliment your new look!!! LOVE olive oil ice cream!!

  21. 20
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    Janice — June 4, 2011 @ 5:52 am

    Love the new design!!! I wish I was with you girls in Chicago! BTW – there are two of you?!?! I never knew!

  22. 21
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    Wonderful new design! Lindsay is a very talented person, not to mention super nice. Even though it is raining today in the Bay Area, this ice cream is too die for and a must make! Enjoy Chicago! – (on my bucket list!)

  23. 22
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    sweetsugarbelle — June 8, 2011 @ 6:47 am

    I feel sophisticated even reading this post and utterly curious. Id seen another blogger mention wanting to try olive oil icing after seeing a post about it. Now I know where she found it 🙂

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    Cheryl Arkison — June 12, 2011 @ 6:09 pm

    Olive oil? You had me intrigued back when you were tweeting about it…

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